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Madeleine disappeared in May, 2007, as her parents Gerry and Kate ate dinner with friends about 50 yards away at a tapas bar.

She was left in the family's rented apartment at the resort in Praia de Luz, along with twin siblings Sean and Amelie.

Two witnesses said they saw a middle-aged couple enter the apartment to comfort Madeleine, who was crying, The Sunday Expresshas reported.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying: 'Apparently they were concerned about the crying and went to see if they could comfort the girl.'

Detectives are now believed to be trying to identify the couple as part of an ongoing review into the case - codenamed Operation Grange.

Gerry McCann and Kate McCann hold their twins Sean and Amelie at the Ocean Club Resort in 2007

The Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where Maddie disappeared. Portuguese police refuse to reopen the case

The investigation is now thought to be focusing on a small number of apartment blocks close to block 5, where the McCann family were staying.

The investigation includes identifying the owners, holidaymakers and those who may have illegally been subletting the flats at the time Madeleine disappeared.

Blocks four and six, which are situated either side of the McCann building, and block two, which is behind their apartment, are the central to the investigation.

There are fears that someone staying in the complex may have been able to watch the family's movements from their flat.

Among those detectives want to speak to are British cleaners and 'low-level' workers, such as handymen and gardeners, The Mail on Sunday learned.

Some are thought to have been employed by the Ocean Club complex on a
casual basis and may have already been interviewed.

Police
are said to be keen to trace six British cleaners who were working in
Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished and who did not appear in the
Portuguese files.

They are
said to have used a white van and went from apartment to apartment
offering their services, chiefly concentrating on expats.

Madeleine disappeared in 2007 when she was on holiday with her parents and brother and sister in Portugal

Kate and Gerry McCann have never given up hunting for their daughter

A British owner of one of the apartments said he had been asked about the cleaners by police from Operation Grange and had been told that blocks five, six, two and four were of particular interest.

He told The Sunday Mirror: 'Every one of the properties they are interested in is right next door to, or on top of, the one where the little girl went missing.

'The officer said the people of interest were located in one of those blocks at the time'.

Detective Chief
Superintendent Hamish Campbell, head of Scotland Yard’s Homicide and
Serious Crime Command, said this week that he believes Madeleine may still be alive - despite it being five years since her disappearance.

He said: 'You only have to look at the case in
Cleveland, Ohio, and the European cases. Of course there is a
possibility she is alive. But the key is to investigate the case and,
alive or dead, we should be able to try and discern what happened.’

Despite the extraordinary amount of publicity Madeleine's disappearance generated, she has not been seen since May, 2007.

Senior Met Police officers believe Madeleine (pictured left, and in an artist's impression of how she may look aged nine, right) may still be alive and said the Cleveland kidnappings show there could still be hope

Jane Tanner, who was at the tapas bar with the McCanns, told police she saw a man carrying a child the night Madeleine disappeared.

However, no one has ever been traced.

Detectives examining the Portuguese
files were alarmed that the original inquiry had not traced and
interviewed all the staff and holidaymakers who were at the Ocean Club
when Madeleine went missing.

Last
year the Met said that it had identified 195 fresh leads that should
have been investigated either by conducting further witness interviews,
eliminating suspects or carrying out forensic tests that were missing
from the 2007 inquiry.

Officers
found unexplained gaps in the investigation timeline and that there had
been a complete lack of forensic examination of mobile phone activity
in the area on the night Madeleine disappeared.

However, police in Portugal said they would only reopen the case if new evidence came to light.

A spokesman for the McCanns said earlier this week: ‘They have been encouraged from the moment the review started and
are now greatly encouraged that police have drawn up a short list of
people who they believe are of interest to the inquiry.’